Turkey to grant Turkish status to football players from Turkic nations

Kürşad Zorlu, AK Party Vice Chairman and Head of Relations with Turkic States, announced that efforts are underway to change the legal status of football players arriving in Turkey from the Turkic world. Currently classified as foreign players, these athletes will be transitioned to ‘Turkish status’ through new regulatory work.

The initiative will be carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Turkish Football Federation. The goal is to discover and develop young talents from the Turkic world’s population of over 200 million, ultimately increasing the success of national teams in international competitions like the European and World Cups.

Additionally, Zorlu announced plans to organize a biennial football tournament titled the ‘Turkic Cup.’ This move is part of a broader effort to strengthen cooperation between the eight member states of the Organization of Turkic States through youth and sports diplomacy.